You getting some 2015 vibes?
These Huskies are reminding me of some other Huskies.
After Washington’s 49-13 trouncing of Purdue on November 15, 2025, I couldn’t help but think about what Washington could look like come November 15, 2026. The trouncing was impressive. Maybe not “forget about what happened in Madison” impressive, but impressive nonetheless. I’d agree with Jedd Fisch that it was the team’s most complete game of the season.
When that most complete effort comes overwhelmingly from players who should be around next year, you start to get peek ahead at things.
Saturday’s offensive performance was led by QB Demond Williams, RBs Adam Mohammed and Jordan Washington, pass catchers Decker DeGraf, Dezmen Roebuck, Audric Harris, and Raiden Vines-Bright, and linemen John Mills, Drew Azzopardi, Champ Taulealea, and Paki Finau. The defensive standouts included Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, Jacob Lane, Xe’Ree Alexander, Elinneus Davis, Alex McLaughlin. Those guys, plus an inevitable transfer crop, Jacob Manu, some wunderkinds from the 15th-best high school recruiting class, and maybe a surprise return (ahem, Denzel Boston?, ahem), are going to be the core of the 2026 team.
The last time the Huskies had this big of a collection of young talent and a winning team at the same time was exactly ten years ago in 2015. 2015, like 2025 is for Jedd Fisch, was Chris Petersen’s second year on Montlake. The young pup underclassmen on the 2015 roster included:
Jake Browning
Myles Gaskin
Lavon Coleman
Dante Pettis
Chico McClatcher
Trey Adams
Coleman Shelton
Kaleb McGary
Drew Sample
Will Dissly
Vita Vea
Greg Gaines
Keishawn Bierria
Azeem Victor
Ben Burr-Kirven
Jordan Miller
Sidney Jones
Budda Baker
JoJo McIntosh
Those 2015 Huskies had incredible talent… hidden in plain sight on a so-so team that went 7-6. Those Huskies ended the season strong, popped in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl, and made the College Football Playoff the next season.
Even if the 2025 Huskies are going to finish with more wins than the 2015 Huskies, time will tell if this year’s team had as much talent as the 2015 team did. Even with an incredible portal class, the 2026 defense almost certainly won’t stack up the 2016 defense, but Demond Williams could make up for that deficit.
Other musings:
Williams had another quietly excellent game, which has sort of become his standard, in Seattle at least. His best game of the season did come in Pullman, but his home/road splits are stark. In terms of passer rating, he’s essentially Julian Sayin at home and Maddux Madsen on the road:
Home: 76.7% completions, 10.6 YPA, 10 TD, 0 INT, 187.8 RTG, 5.1 YPC
Road: 67.7% completions, 7.4 YPA, 7 TD, 5 INT, 140.4 RTG, 3.6 YPC
Speaking of road games, Saturday night should be interesting. Anyone around my age can really only remember the Huskies winning in the Rose Bowl twice - once in 2001 against Purdue and another in 2018 in a regular season game. As beautiful as that soon-to-be-vacant-for-seven-more-Saturdays-a-year venue is, it has been a hideous place for the Huskies to play my whole life.
Perhaps the biggest question heading into Saturday is whether Nico Iamaleava (concussion) is going to play for UCLA. Nico is the Bruins’ leading passer and rusher. As maligned as his uh, financial decisions, have been, he is undeniably talented and changes UCLA’s ceiling if he’s on the field.
Regardless of Iamaleava’s status, Washington should have an opportunity to stay on schedule and lean on UCLA in the run game. UCLA is 125th nationally in yards per rush allowed and has given up 150+ rushing yards in three consecutive games. 3rd and shorts will certainly help fix Demond Williams’ road woes.
Holy MOSES can Jordan Washington fly. His 68-yard scamper Saturday was aided by some phenomenal blocking, but also the product of some world-class open field speed. Washington has gotten more burn over the past few weeks and finally broke free with that one.
Zaydrius Rainey-Sale has a very bright future. Since seeing the field for a few plays in his collegiate debut against Rutgers, his workload has gradually increased along with his production. He was credited with 6 tackles on Saturday (5 solo), but it felt like he was around the ball on damn-near every play. If this growth continues, we may be talking about him as the Huskies’ best defensive player heading into next season.
I had an errand to run on Saturday afternoon and plugged the Varsity Network’s College Football Blitz program for the long drive. It was awesome, and free! I got to listen to both announcing crews’ voices in A&M’s wild comeback against South Carolina, Michigan’s (very homerific) broadcast slog through a tight one against Northwestern, among others. Highly recommend.